Staley Named Assistant Coach for USA Basketball World Championship Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is one of three coaches selected to serve as assistants for the 2014 USA Basketball Women's World Championship Team.

USA Basketball announced Monday Staley joins DePaul's Doug Bruno and Cheryl Reeve of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx on the staff, chosen by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Steering Committee, to work with head coach Geno Auriemma.

Staley and Bruno have both served as assistant coaches for USA Basketball at the FIBA World Championship and Olympic Games.

The coaches will assist Auriemma during the USA National Team's training camp, which kicks off Sept. 7-10 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The team will compete in the 2014 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 27-Oct. 5.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back into the USA Basketball network," Staley said. "It's reliving some of the best days of my life. To be able to work with Geno, Doug and Cheryl, it's going to open me up as a coach to learn different things. I'm looking forward to the challenge, and I'm looking forward to, as always, winning the gold medal."

No stranger to USA Basketball, Staley as an athlete won 10 gold medals, including three Olympic and two FIBA World Championship gold medals, one bronze medal and seven international invitational titles from 1989-2004.

She received her first USA Basketball coaching assignment as an assistant to the 2006 USA World Championship Team and was later asked to remain on board through the 2008 Olympics. With Staley assisting on the sideline, the USA National Team from 2006-08 posted a 32-2 record, captured the 2008 Olympic and 2007 FIBA Americas Championship gold medals and the 2006 FIBA World Championship bronze medal.

Through six seasons at South Carolina, Staley has compiled a 121-71 (.630) record and posted 25-win seasons in each of the past three years. In 2013-14 she led the Gamecocks to a 29-5 mark, the program's first Southeastern Conference regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament where she advanced her team to the Sweet Sixteen. Staley in 2014 was named the SEC Coach of the Year, WBCA Region 3 Coach of the Year and was one of four finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award.

The 12-member 2014 USA World Championship Team will be selected from the 2014-16 USA National Team Pool.